Fire extinguisher



Sept. 12, 1950 s. v. BOWER 2,522,088

FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed Feb. 21; 1948 INVENTOR. SCOTT VI BOWER Patented Sept. 12, 1950 I T TES j aszaoss; f ms iixzrmcmsnaa.

7 Scott YI'B'ower, WarrenQOIiib. Application Februa y '21, 1943, Serial 9,932

' l -Claims.

My invention relates to .-fi.re;-exti.n i11-She.r. an

theprincipal obiectsoi myinvention iS to. provide new; and improvedxfire extinguishers-..

.- The type of fire extinguishernow commercially.

available: has serious; disadvantages, recognized outletxhose, which is turned at least partially up-' ward, may spray; contents of the. extinguishenon:

the user or onsome proximate person or. object,

with-damaging results.

Further, the present typeof extinguisher has.

Refierringlto. the drawing, the. embodiment herein; shown. to. illustrate the; invention-looms, prises .atcasinalfi which maybe of iaeconstruction now extensivelyeused. As best; seen .in Figure. 2,. the: casing: Its is; generally; cylindrical. and 1 of. greater length than. diameter,'-as is=customary a1- thoughnotessential...

The easingxhas .asbottom. .l l andatuits top .terminates; in. anzexteriorly .threadedopeningz. l 2 A capwla. is; threaded tozclosethezopening I 2,. a :seal. ldepreferablyibeingiinterposed;.betweerradjoiningsurfaces of...the..cap:. l3:;and:. .openingg I2; Avhand. wheel;l5.; is integrally securedvto theacapx. I3-,.,1orthe". purpose-of,threadingv the cap; on or: off the threads at thetopening: l2; Thezforegoingszconstruction is well kn-ownin Jtheart; and is shown.

and; described. only. to better illustrate. my; invention.

Referring. particularly to; Figure 1, a plug: I 65 considerable weight and is awkward to handle, iS.S6CU1dL centrally 'ofrthe cap: 13, the plug having.-

thus. requiring, that a user.- possess considerable strength in order to properly turn the. extinuisher end for end; v

Another serious disadvantage arises whena usersmustleave the floor; or a supportingsurface inxrcrderto get in .promixityto the fire, such for example, ,when auserv may berequired to climb:

, a. ladder to get close. enough to the fire .to check tively use the extinguisher. Under such .condi-- tions, auser does not ordinarily haveboth hands.

freetto invertthe a present. type extinguisher, and to free both handsior this purpose may be hazardous.

Many other disadvantages of the. present type fire extinguisher maybe pointed-out,.but it is: 5

believed thatthe. following description is suflie cient to showthe many advantagesthat myinventionprovidesjover the prior art, In the drawing accompanyingthis specificatio'n'and forming part ofthis application, there 40 is shown, for-purposes of illustration, an embodimentwhich myinvention may assume; and in this'drawing:

Figure-1 is a broken longitudinal sectional view ofa fire extinguisherillustratingan embodiment oi' myinvention,

' Figure 2 is a-broken longitudinal view; partly -in section and on awed-need scale, showingposi view corresponding).generally;-to .thezline. 4-410f3 56 a; lower portion l1 athreadedcithrough a. central;

apertureainnthe can 13:. A cup member I8 is. fixedly secured to thecinner.surfacmotltheicapi threadedotorreceive ai-glan'd 111113123. .A shaft zt extends through ialignediaperturesin the nut .23

and...p1ug1r It; and,:l.as here shown, issintegrally formediwith aasecoiid:cup .member 25 rotatably' fitting. within the cupimemher .I8. Thecup memher; 251 c-omprisesra circular .ski-rtZB; and .a spanningr. wall -21 from 'which the; shaft .124 extends. Projecting from a 2 terminal: margin. off the i skirt I Zltis apairof diametrically.opposedlugs 28,.for'

a-purpose. to. be later described.

As best seen in: Figure..3,: the skirt. I orb-the:

flange, is formed with; diametrically; opposed.

slotsfll for receiving theilugsllll-onthe cup.;member 25. i mrecentacleaaii iscarried bye-the holders-amend into the mouth portion, and since the receptacle 38 usuallycontains 'anfacid, the stopper prererably made of lead. The stopper, as here shown, comprises a cap portion 42 and a stem H portion 43 loosely fitting into the opening of the In the embodiment disclosed, a;wire;44

bottle. spans the flange to prevent the stopper from being disassembled with respect to the recap-- tacle 38, but to permit free movement, of the stopper in a, direction to uncover the opening into the mouth portion.

When the fire extinguisher herein disclosed is in condition ready for use, the lugs- 32 of the receptacle holder 33 are seated within. the retainer portions 3| of respective bayonet slots 29, thus releasably supporting the receptacle holder 33 and the receptacle 38 in position spaced from the bottom ll of the casing in. r

Connection of the receptacle holder may be readily efiectedby inserting the lugs 32 into the entrance portions 30 of the bayonet slots 29, after first lining up the slots 31 in the holder 33 with the tongues 28 on the cup member 25, and then rotating the holder 33 to seat the lugs32 in the retainer portions 3i of the bayonet slots 29. It will be clear that the cup member 25 will rotate with the holder 33, by reason of the tongue and groove connection 28, 31.

With'the parts as just described, the receptacle holder 33 and receptacle 38 may be released from the cup member l8 by proper rotastopper 42 to drop of its own weight to uncover the opening into the mouth portion 40 of the receptacle 38, so that the contents of the receptacle will contact with the fluid in the casing to provide the fire extinguisher charge which will be expelled through the tube 45 and the hose 46. Thus, it will be seen that the extinguishing charge may be generatedwithout turning the casing end for end, and thereforethe disadvantages of the prior art are avoided. Further, the substance in the receptacle 38 is brought into contact with the fluid in the casing in at ='the lowermost portion of the casing, so as to provide for good mixing action of the substances producing the fire extinguishing charge. HFrom-theforegoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal object of my invention, and

liquid; means for releasing said receptacle so that tion of the shaft 24 of the cup member 25. A w

hand wheel 44 is secured to the exterior portion of the shaft 24 to enable a user to conveniently rotate the cup member 25. Rotation of the cup member 25 in the proper direction will cause simultaneous rotation of the holder 33, rotation continuing until the lugs 32 on the holder 33 verticallyalign with the entrance portions 30 of the bayonet slots 29, whereupon the holder 33 may be disengaged from the cup member 18. The weight of the holder 33, together with the weight of the receptacle 38 is sufiicient to cause this assembly to drop out of engagement with the cup member i8.

l Normally the casing I0 is substantially filled with a fluid, and the receptacle 38 is preferably.

only partially filled with a'substance, such asa liquid, which is mixable with the fluid in the casing ill to provide the fire extinguishing charge. This charge produces a pressure condi--..

tion within the casing ID, so that the charge is expelled from the casing through a tube 45.extending upwardly from the bottom H and connected to the usual exterior hose 46.

' When the holder 33 and receptacle 38 :are re leased from engagement with the cup-member l8; the receptacle and holder drop into the liquid in the casing In. The holder 33 is of sufficient weight so that it and the receptacle will sink in the liquid in the casing, "and since the receptacle 38' is only partly filled, it will provide a buoyant portion spaced from the holder 33, so that the receptacle will invert itself in the distance it travels'toward the bottom I I, and will be generally completely inverted when it reaches the bottom, as shown in Figure 2.

Inversion 1 of thesreceptacle 38 caii'sesv';- the it also will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe embodiment herein described may bevariously changed and modified, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and that-the invention is capable of uses and has closed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.-

liclaim: a w 1. A fire extinguisher, comprising: a generally upright casing; a liquid in said casing; a receptacle releasably supported in upright relation from-an upper portion of said casing, said receptacle containinga substance mixable with said itis free to drop into and sink in said fluid; and weight means adjacent to the opening in said receptacle for overbalancing and inverting said receptacle as it'sinks in said fluid.

2. A fire extinguisher, comprising: a generally upright casing; a liquid in said casing; a receptacle releasably supported in upright relation from an upper portion of said'casing, said receptacle containing a substance mixable with said liquid; means for releasing said receptacle from its support on said casing so that said receptacle is free to-drop into and sink said fluid; weightas it sinks in said fluid; and buoyancy producing means combining with 'said weight means holding said receptacle in inverted relation. w

3. A fire extinguisher, comprising: a generally upright casing; a liquid in said casing; a receptacle releasably supported in upright relationliquid to produce a fire-fighting product, said sub stance occupying only a portion of the capacity of said receptacle so that a space remains in said, receptacle, and being shiitable longitudinally of,

said receptacle; means for releasing said receptacle from its support on said casing so that said receptacle is iree to drop into and sink in said fluid; weight means adjacent to the opening in said receptacle for overbalancing and inverting saidreceptacle when it sinks in said fluid; said substance shifting toward the opening of said receptacle when the latter is inverted to provide a.

buoyantportion spaced from said weight means and combiningtherewith to hold said receptacle in inverted relation. I

5 from an upper portion of said casing; a second liquid in said receptacle which is mixable with said first liquid to produce a fire-fighting product, said second liquid occupying only a portion of the capacity of said receptacle so that a space remains in said receptacle; means for releasing said receptacle from its support on said casing so that said receptacle is free to drop into and sink in said first fluid; weight means adjacent to the opening in said receptacle, comprising a cover closing the opening into said receptacle and being movable to position uncovering said opening by gravitational force when said receptacle is inverted, said weight means being operable to overbalance and invert said receptacle when it sinks in said first fluid; said second liquid gravitating toward the opening of said receptacle when the latter is inverted to provide a buoyant portion spaced from said weight UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 919,552 Diggs Apr. 27, 1909 923,076 Rankin May 25, 1909 1,009,490 Driscoll Nov. 21, 1911 1,309,624 Hindmarsh July 15, 1919 1,662,053 Allen et a1 Mar. 13, 1928 1,791,343 Bellocchio I Feb. 3, 1931 

